White-breasted Antbird

Overview

The white-breasted antbird is a species of bird in the subfamily Thamnophilinae, endemic to Brazil. It is a monotypic species that frequently hybridises with the harlequin antbird.

Identification

• Measures 14 to 15 cm in length and weighs between 28 and 34 g.
• Features a crest and a pale greenish-yellow ring of bare skin around the eye.
• Adult males display a black forehead, crown, and nape, with olive-brown upperparts and white faces and breasts.
• Adult females resemble males but possess black-streaked chestnut crowns, rufous-chestnut napes, and buff-edged black tips on the upperparts and belly.

Habitat

Found in central Amazonian Brazil from the east bank of the lower Rio Madeira in Amazonas south through Rondônia into western Mato Grosso. It primarily inhabits the understorey of humid terra firme evergreen forest, though it also occurs in transitional forest between it and seasonally flooded areas, entirely below 300 m in elevation.

Diet

An obligate ant follower that feeds on a variety of arthropods fleeing foraging army ant swarms, such as those of Eciton burchelli. It typically forages individually, in pairs, or in family groups, perching within about 1 m of the ground and sallying or pouncing to the ground after prey.

Did you know?

The species was originally assessed as Threatened by the IUCN in 1988 before being downgraded to Least Concern in 2004, despite a declining population and sensitivity to human disturbance from deforestation.